Bed Bug Identification & Prevention

Blood-feeding insects that typically feed on their hosts while they are sleeping, bed bugs are pests that no one is comfortable having in their home. Bed bugs will feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals, with people as their top choice. Since we are their favorite hosts, they have adapted to living mainly indoors with us, being transferred from place to place by people on our personal belongings.

Bed bugs are tiny oval-shaped pests and hide during the day in dark, quiet areas inside a home or business. While small, they are still visible to the human eye, and these reddish-brown insects look like apple seeds with legs.

The bed bug's small size and dark color make it easy for these pests to blend in with their environment, so they're easy to overlook. Unfortunately, just a few missed bed bugs can quickly turn into many bed bugs in a very short period. Though bed bugs aren't considered dangerous, it is still not ideal to have large numbers of these pests living throughout your home. Their bites can cause a range of responses from nothing to red itchy swelling around the bite sites to a severe allergic reactions. In addition to a physical response, bed bugs are often responsible for affecting a person's mental health. Living with bed bugs is uncomfortable, stressful, and can cause a lack of sleep.

Despite their slow movement and inability to fly or jump, bed bugs are efficient crawlers and excel at crawling onto people and our belongings (luggage, furniture, mattresses, and clothing) unseen. Hitchhiking their way from place to place with our help is how these pests move around so easily and why they can silently infest so many different structures.

There are many places where people can come into contact with bed bugs, some of the most common include:

• Transportation sites like airports 
• Schools and libraries
• Hotels and motels
• Shopping centers, movie theaters, and office buildings
• Secondhand clothing and furniture

When in our homes, bed bugs will move to the tiniest of spaces to hide during the day. They usually chose hideouts that are close to where people sleep or spend most of their time. Some of their favorite daytime resting spots include cracks in walls and wooden furniture, behind wall hangings, in electrical outlets, in areas of clutters, and the seams of mattresses and upholstered furniture.

Since spotting bed bugs can be tricky, knowing some of the most common signs of their presence is helpful. If bed bugs are in your home, you may begin to notice some of the following things:

• Piles of molted insect skins
• Small spots of blood on sheets, pillows, and mattress covers
• Dark spotting and staining from their excrement on bedding, furniture walls, and floors
• A sweet foul odor in areas of a home they are infesting
• You or family members waking up with unexplained bed bug bites

Bed bugs pests that can be introduced into our Lake Worth area homes any time of the year. Remaining vigilant and requesting professional help as soon as you notice their presence are the best ways to eliminate bed bugs and prevent a reinfestation completely.

As soon as you notice bed bugs or their signs, contact the local, family-oriented professionals at Above and Beyond Pest Control! We are leaders in the pest control industry and are always committed to protecting people and their property from the many problems pests are known to cause. Through accurate inspections, advanced treatments, and the use of Integrated Pest Management, we will eliminate bed bugs from your home. Our pest control solutions are effective in addition to being safe for both people and the environment. Give us a call today to learn more about our effective bed bug control solutions in the Lake Worth area!

Don't let bed bugs move in and out of your Florida home as they please; put in place the following prevention tips to help avoid as much contact with bed bugs as possible.

• When traveling, always inspect your hotel room for bed bugs before bringing your luggage inside.
• In a hotel room, never place your luggage on the floor. Store it up off the ground and away from the beds. 
• When packing to leave a hotel, check your bags and belongings for bed bugs.
• Thoroughly inspect and clean secondhand clothing and furniture before bringing it into your home. 
• Inside your house, protect mattresses and box springs from bed bugs by placing protective bed bug covers over them.
• Frequently vacuum your home to remove any stray bed bugs.

Learn more about our home pest control and commercial pest control solutions.